# So a Caliber III hygrometer can't be calibrated?



## joay11 (May 20, 2011)

I just got through reading the manual and it warns:

"DO NOT perform the salt test"

There are 2 buttons but no instructions on how to adjust the humidity readout on the unit. Do these really not need to be calibrated?:suspicious:


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## asmartbull (Aug 16, 2009)

I believe you can not calibrate it. Use a Boli pack of the desired rh.
I buy hydrometers that I can calibrate

I just found this....referring to cheap hydrometers 
As a professional weather guy I've got to tell you all that humity measurements are mostly inaccurate. The National Weather Service and the Air Force Weather Agency would love to have an instrument that was +_5% accurate. A sling cycrometer is about the only instrument that is accurate and no one wants to get a wet bulb temperature by that method. All electronic instruments are off. Actually a company that advertizes a 1% accuracy is dead wrong 

As a mechanical engineer, I agree with Ken. Humidity is tough to measure and it varies easily on a whole range of conditions. It's not the same thing as measuring another quantitiy, say length or volume. +- 5% is a completely negligible error when dealing with these devices and in any case, you should not be worried about it, your cigars will be fine.


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## joay11 (May 20, 2011)

Thank you for the response. So do you think the salt test is not as close to 75% as most people think?


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## bazookajoe (Nov 2, 2006)

Correct, can't be calibrated, and I believe they say not to use a salt test to prevent corrosion in the unit.

There are so many factors that affect RH that you won't get absolutely accurate readings with an affordable hygrometer, but they are good for two things-giving you a general idea what the RH is and more importantly showing changes in RH. No matter what the hygrometer shows, the RH is ideal when you like the way your cigars smoke. It'll take some experimenting, and when you get it where you like it the hygrometer will help you track changes so you'll know it's time to add water, etc.. In this respect Western Caliber III's are very steady in their readings and will accurately track fluctuations. IMO that's much more important than the actual RH reading.



joay11 said:


> ...So do you think the salt test is not as close to 75% as most people think?


Yes. Too many variables in the salt test.


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## asmartbull (Aug 16, 2009)

I am a fan of getting devices I can calibrate
and calibrating them at my desired RH
I enjoy 60 rh ish, 
I have two hydrometers that were calibrated off 
a very expensive and accurate device.
I calibrate against that.



Fact is, with my beads/KL, I really don't need hydrometers.


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## dragonhead08 (Feb 3, 2011)

I used the boveda calibration test. I put three in there. A xikar calibratable one, a no name non clibratable one that I did a salt test first and was bang on 75, and the caliber one. The caliber and no name were bang on 75, and the xikar was 73. I got lucky that only one that was off was the one that could be calibrated, but the caliber one was perfect out of the box.


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## Bleedingme (Jan 14, 2011)

I put a Caliber III in with a 69RH Boveda pack and it read spot on 69. I've been happy with its performance so far, especially for the price.


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## havanajohn (Apr 4, 2009)

Bleedingme said:


> I put a Caliber III in with a 69RH Boveda pack and it read spot on 69. I've been happy with its performance so far, especially for the price.


+1 Here. I had mine for well over a year, and it has been tested twice with a Boveda Pack--both times it was right on. It is currently making the rounds for the second time in Andys Pass III.


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## oznation (May 25, 2011)

im a welder in the Hobart Welding lab and we test every single batch of electrodes we make. we have a what we call an 80/80 machine that we test moisture with and its calibrated once a month it keeps 80 degrees and 80% humidity at all times. I just placed mine in there and they both read 80/80 if we use the machine to perform test for the u.s. military then its good enough for my cigars.


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## asmartbull (Aug 16, 2009)

oznation said:


> im a welder in the Hobart Welding lab and we test every single batch of electrodes we make. we have a what we call an 80/80 machine that we test moisture with and its calibrated once a month it keeps 80 degrees and 80% humidity at all times. I just placed mine in there and they both read 80/80 if we use the machine to perform test for the u.s. military then its good enough for my cigars.


Great, I will send you mine to test...:typing:


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## oznation (May 25, 2011)

asmartbull said:


> Great, I will send you mine to test...:typing:


send them over and ill throw them in there


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## jakesmokes (Mar 10, 2011)

+1 for the boveda test. I have a couple and they work very well.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

oznation said:


> im a welder in the Hobart Welding lab and we test every single batch of electrodes we make. we have a what we call an 80/80 machine that we test moisture with and its calibrated once a month it keeps 80 degrees and 80% humidity at all times. I just placed mine in there and they both read 80/80 if we use the machine to perform test for the u.s. military then its good enough for my cigars.


Great idea, in theory, except for the part about hygrometers having an extremely narrow window of accuracy.

Let's say an NIST Certified Instrument is guaranteed to be +/-2% accurate. That doesn't mean it's going to be that accurate at ALL reference points. That means it's going to be that accurate at its SET POINT. Hygrometers only really work when they are set up to work in a specific environment. If you plan on using a hygrometer to reflect the stability of an environment intended to be maintained at 65%, yet you calibrate the instrument for 75%, you're likely going to be 10% off.

In short, if you want to know how close your cigars are to 65%, calibrate your instrument to 65%.

Otherwise, use 65% Heartfelt beads and spend that hygrometer money on cigars! :smoke:


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## oznation (May 25, 2011)

Herf N Turf said:


> Great idea, in theory, except for the part about hygrometers having an extremely narrow window of accuracy.
> 
> Let's say an NIST Certified Instrument is guaranteed to be +/-2% accurate. That doesn't mean it's going to be that accurate at ALL reference points. That means it's going to be that accurate at its SET POINT. Hygrometers only really work when they are set up to work in a specific environment. If you plan on using a hygrometer to reflect the stability of an environment intended to be maintained at 65%, yet you calibrate the instrument for 75%, you're likely going to be 10% off.
> 
> ...


well i use 65% boveda packs in my humi and it reads 65% almost constantly.... im not saying your wrong but to me if the hygro is reading what the packs are supposed to be at then thats telling me its working correctly... is my hygro way off then?:???:


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## RichL (Sep 7, 2019)

9/2019 I have one that I have tested with a Boveda 75% kit and it reads 78%. Oh well, I have others in my Wineador that I could calibrate and seem accurate now. I will identify that this one is 3% high. FYI: all the others had to be calibrated, even new ones that I bought. I also use a Boveda Butler with their app, I like it


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